New cultural awards

Gibraltar Cultural Services are introducing the Cultural Awards to celebrate the best of Gibraltar’s arts and culture.

The aim is to recognise cultural potential, ability, talent and achievement that will support community cultural development in Gibraltar.

The Cultural Awards will recognise performances and events from July 1 last year to June 30, this year, with the public encouraged to nominate arts events, venues, artists and organisations.

The process for public nominations is as follows:
The public will be invited to nominate by category in the summer. Thereafter, a panel consisting of cultural experts will produce a shortlist by category. Once the shortlist is announced, the public will be able to vote for their preferred winners via telephone vote, with calls raising funds for charity.

The categories are:

The Cultural Ambassador Award
An artist or artistic endeavour which has promoted Gibraltar‘s talent or the Rock as a destination to a wider audience, or helped put the Rock on the map.

Junior Award
An individual or group of artists under 12 years of age that show potential or has/ have displayed real talent.

Youth Award
An individual or group of artists under 25 years of age that shows potential or has/ have displayed real talent.

Senior Award
An individual or group of artists over 25 years of age that show potential or has/ have displayed real talent.

Cultural Space of the Year
A dedicated venue or space used/ or that has been used for the arts / or a particular performance. The award will recognise Gibraltar’s history and heritage and unique spaces which may have been used for specific events or exhibitions in a bid to promote our surroundings and environment. It will recognise the group or individual which organised the event, or cultural activity.

Best Education Project
A project that shows the power of art and culture to engage young people and create high-quality artistic outputs.

Two additional awards will be presented which will not be open to public voting.
These are:
The Gibraltar Cultural Services Award
A discretionary award given to an individual or group based on an extraordinary achievement in that particular year.

Lifetime Achievement Award
An award which recognises dedication, commitment and service to a particular art.

“We always pride ourselves of all the culture events we organise and how well and good our performances are. I personally feel it is appropriate to have Cultural Awards given in recognition of the work that is done both behind the scenes as well as on stage by our cultural and arts fraternity,” said the Minister for Culture, Steven Linares.

Gibraltar Cultural Services CEO, Seamus Byrne said: “I am delighted that together with my team at GCS, we have managed to be able to set up the Cultural Awards to celebrate our cultural community and its achievements. I am a firm believer that there should be parity between culture and sports, and therefore, we should mirror the many sporting aspects that enriches our community.”

“I hope that the Cultural Awards will serve to recognise individuals or collective excellence in a bid to celebrate what makes Gibraltar a vibrant cultural hub and a place to live in.”
“By allowing the public telephone vote, I am delighted to confirm that all monies collected will be donated to the GBC Open Day Fund.”

The first Cultural Awards Ceremony is scheduled to take place on Thursday December, 5, 2019.

The invitation for nominations will be released in July 2019.